Researchers and women's health advocates over the years have highlighted the importance of the relationship between work and women's health. This complex area of investigation must consider the impact of women's work in the unpaid private and paid public spheres, the role of societal norms and social policies on gendered roles and discrimination in the workplace, and the disproportionate impact of precarious employment conditions, chronic musculoskeletal diseases, violence and harassment at work among others. These issues have been highlighted in the last decade at world congresses focused on "Women, Work and Health," initiated in 1996 in Barcelona and subsequently held every three years in Brazil, Sweden and India. The 5th International Congress of Women, Work and Health, scheduled for Zacatecas, Mexico, October 27th - 30th of 2008, builds on the foundation laid by the four previous congresses. (See http://www.zanzana-ac.org/vcongresswwh.php.) Planning committee members, representing 12 countries, anticipate attendance by more than 600 participants including academic and government researchers, policy makers, workers, and community and labor-based women's advocacy groups. An overarching goal of the Congress is to generate an Initiative on Women, Work and Health for Latin America, similar to an Asian initiative that grew out of the 2005 Congress in New Delhi. Congress themes include Working Conditions and the Work Environment, Work Organization, Job Market Conditions, Unpaid Work, and Public Policy and Women's Rights. The Congress will also highlight outreach, education and research methodologies appropriate to the study of women, work and health. Selected papers from the Congress will be submitted for publication in the journal New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, and proceedings will be posted on the websites of participating university and community-based organizations. The 5th International Congress of Women, Work and Health, scheduled October 27th - 30th, 2008 in Zacatecas, Mexico, will address critical work-life issues that affect women's health, stimulate interdisciplinary research across national boundaries, and disseminate research to advance policy change and advocacy efforts to improve working conditions and women's health. The Congress provides a unique opportunity for US researchers and community-based advocates interested in the occupational health of immigrant workers to interact with their counterparts from the native countries of origin of U.S. immigrant women workers. Congress themes will address issues relevant to women workers who must balance work-family demands, who work in the growing number of contingent and temporary jobs, and who confront work-related hazards unique to gendered roles or job segregation. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]